Wow! What a weekend full of fun in the heart of Miami Springs. The 2026 River Cities Regatta was a huge hit drawing a great crowd for a beautiful, family friendly, fun filled weekend.
First of all, let’s start out with the obvious. It had rained all week leading up to the Regatta. There was a legit chance of a complete wash out. Instead, we had perfect spring weather all three days. Beautiful weather. Clear skies. A cool breeze and lots of sunshine. You couldn’t ask for better weather.
Great Entertainment
From the beginning of the festival on Friday night to the end on Sunday afternoon, the live entertainment kept the crowd rocking!
Music included everything from golden oldies to classic rock to punk Latin. And no matter who was on, the crowd was definitely having a good time.
Kudos to Lynn Brooks on yet another great entertainment lineup.
Glorious Gathering
If you show up to a party with great music, but there’s nobody there, it’s not a great party. Part of what made this weekend a blast was the glorious gathering of wonderful people who all came out to enjoy a fun filled, family friendly weekend.
As you can see, the Circle was packed during the day and during the night. Everyone was having a great time enjoying the live entertainment.
Kids Rides
We were very happy to see the return of mechanical kids rides and a fun house.
As you can see, the kids were enjoying some of the thrill rides.
We’re glad they were back. We only wish there were a few more rides for the kids to enjoy. But that’s easy for me to Monday morning quarterback. Trust me when I tell you there’s a lot of work and preparation and due diligence involved in making this happen.
Fishing Tournament
The fishing tournament was a HUGE success and we have to thank Miami Springs’ own David Gauzens for bringing back this amazing event.
Look at the faces of the proud kids in these photos. This is priceless and something these young anglers will never forget.
Again, we can’t say enough good things about David Gauzen and his single handed effort to drive registrations, awareness, sponsorship and more.
The end result, they had over 70 youth anglers compete in the River Cities Youth Fishing Classic and well over 100 fish were submitted during the tournament.
And most importantly, a group of young children that will forever remember their participation in the 2026 River Cities Youth Fishing Classic.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
Petting Zoo
In addition to the mechanical rides, the petting zoo proved to be another big hit with a constant crowd enjoying the animals all weekend long.
Lots of Food
Walking around Stadnik way (Curtiss Parkway between the Circle and Canal Street) was where your nose was treated to a cornucopia of delicious aromas thanks to a wide variety of food vendors.
You could find everything from Conch Fritters to Corn.
Fried chicken to pizza.
From Polish and Italian sausage to Pork Quesadillas.
There was something for everybody.
Unfortunately, the only thing missing was a place to sit.
We headed to the Regatta Saturday evening with the intention of trying something new. But we opted not try anything. Not because the food didn’t look great. It looked fantastic. It smelled fantastic. But we had no place to sit down and enjoy the food.
I know. We saw plenty of people walking around eating handhelds. And we saw other people sitting down on the Curtiss median curb to eat their food. Maybe I’m too old, but I wasn’t about to ask my wife to join me for a date dining on the floor.
Instead, we headed to Burritoville (Burritoville had suffered during a past festival). We helped to support a local restaurant in the heart of Miami Springs and were able to enjoy a sit down dinner while enjoying the outdoor vibes and spectacular weather.
5K River Run
Another great tradition to the River Cities Regatta is the annual 5K River Run through Miami Springs. Again, the weather was a superstar. A cool breeze accompanied by slightly cooler temps made for ideal running conditions. Click on the article below to learn more about this year’s 5K Run.
Pet Parade
A new event made a huge splash this year. We’re talking about the inaugural Miami Springs Pet Parade. Dozens of pet parents brought their playful pets to the Circle to proudly participate in the unique parade.
Read the full article on the Pet Parade here.
MSSH MEGA Reunion
How do you draw a crowd of people to Miami Springs, that don’t live in Miami Springs, but still appreciate its lure and history? You bring back the people who grew up here and then left. That was the whole concept behind the inaugural Miami Springs Senior High MEGA Reunion some 15 years ago (more or less).
Well, we’re proud to say that the Miami Springs Senior high team did a great job drawing the biggest MSSH Reunion crowd we’ve seen in at least half a decade.
Let’s start off with the return of retired NFL star, FIU Hall of Famer, Miami Springs Senior High Alum, and now, Miami Springs Senior High Football Head Coach, T.Y. Hilton. Hilton was incredibly kind and generous with his time, taking pictures with fellow Golden Hawks.
The Miami Springs Football Team and the Miami Springs Wrestling Team also gathered a mini-reunion bringing old friends back to their old stomping grounds.
And it’s always a big old smile when you run into an old friend you haven’t seen in years.
Great People
We talked to lots of people this weekend. And everyone absolutely loves Miami Springs. And sometimes its hard to describe what makes Miami Springs so special. I mean we all love the tree lined streets, the small town feeling, the quiet streets, and central location. But there’s something else that makes Miami Springs great. it’s sometimes elusive to describe. But in reality, it’s the great people who live, work, and play right here in Miami Springs. We are blessed with great people who share our love and passion for this beautiful community.
Here we’re sharing some of wonderful pictures of some of those great people who share in our love for this wonderful community.
We are Miami Springs
Special Thanks!
The 2026 River Cities Regatta was a resounding success. If you missed it, you missed out on a whole lotta fun. Again, we’ve got to give props to Lynn Brooks and Tom Hutchings and all the volunteers who put together this year’s festival. You did a great job!
We also need to thank Miami Springs Public Works for their amazing support and patience driving their utility carts through an almost impassible crowd Saturday night. Great job!
And we also need to thank the Miami Springs Police for their constant presence ensuring everyone’s safety throughout the three day event.
Final Thoughts
We loved the crowd, the music, the vibe, the atmosphere. It was all fun. The crowd Saturday night was amazing.
The MEGA Reunion crowd came back with a vengeance. Special thanks to Miami Springs Senior High, T.Y. Hilton, Principal Gonzalez, the football alumni and the wrestling alumni for coming through strong this year. Great job.
Kids world was much better with actual rides instead of just bounce houses. We loved that. Would we like to see more rides? Of course, but this was much better than some recent years. It takes volunteers to organize and make these improvements, so now’s a great time to sign up for next year’s Regatta.
The fishing tournament was great. One man made that happen: David Gauzen.  Will you step up to organize the next great standalone event for the 2027 Regatta?
The Chili Cook-Off was another great hit this year. Will a local bakery take on the 2027 Cake Bake-off challenge?
Again, the Regatta was outstanding. If I can make just one improvement, it would be to learn from the Blessed Trinity Parish Festival. The Parish has a dedicated tent full of tables and chairs adjacent to all the food vendors. This allows the patrons a place to sit down, eat, drink, and have conversations.
This can be an easy fix for the 2027 Festival.
Lastly, we gotta have a fun area for teens to enjoy next year. They’re too old for the kiddie rides. They’re too young to drink. But they want to hang out with each other and have fun.
While there was no specific function for teens Saturday night, we witnessed teens being creative. A group cordoned off an area between the Circle and Hook Square and started a volleyball game. Others were doing stunt on their bikes. Others played street soccer. And we loved it. They were having good clean fun. They were outdoors and not behind a screen. And they were socializing.
Folks, kids will be kids. They want to hang out with each other and have fun. Maybe the teens are telling us what they want. Can we have a popup volleyball tent or soccer setup next year? Something to think about to make the Regatta more entertaining for teens that want a place to hang out with each other and something fun to do.
Your Thoughts?
What did you think of the Festival? Did you have a great time? Share your thoughts in the comments section below or via social media.
More Pictures!
Check out our full Photo Gallery Below:
